My Green Sun Prince Academia
Chapter Twenty-Eight
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Oathbreaker
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Stepping out of the portal, Tenya observed his surrounding cautiously. While wary of a trap, he wasn't prepared for the emotions he'd deal with instead. Camie lay next to a hulking figure, but what she held in her lap haunted Tenya to his core. Kamui Woods, or at least, his head, stared up towards Tenya with horrified-yet-vacant eyes. Kamui's mouth contorted into a grimace, one he'd likely wear until he could receive a proper cremation.
There wasn't time to think about the dead, though. Tenya decided to focus on the living.
Striding toward him, Tenya recognized the hero, Sakamata Kugo, on sight. Gang Orca was an imposing figure while standing. The prospect of carrying the man, though, was even more daunting. His mass was a more significant challenge than his height suggested. He knelt and surged power into his Quirk-driven engines, scooping the massive hero up. Kilogram after kilogram of dead weight strained Tenya's arms so much that if he hadn't relied on his new Quirk, he doubted what his body could do unaided.
The rest of their not-so-merry band arrived after Tenya's herculean effort was almost over. "What took you all so long?" he strained to ask. For that, he earned a chuckle, but he didn't see from who.
Their villainous companion said nothing and merely opened the next portal.
Wasting precious fuel on the effort, Tenya strode, step by laborious step, forward through the second portal. The first was a leap of faith, but the second was a trial by fire.
If not for the blonde, hastily introduced as Bakugou earlier, this plan wouldn't work at all. The ferocious-faced teen had a vice-like grip on the ashen-faced man's neck. Sparks flew now and then from the oily gaps between his fingers, reminding everyone of the hostage's impending decapitation should their transportation-villain get an inclination for treachery.
Stepping to the other side, Tenya was relieved and surprised that they were on the hospital's rooftop, not the base. It all made sense when he thought about it. The villain wanted to escape with his companion, and the odds of finding other heroes on the roof were slim.
He knelt once through, setting Gang Oca down as gently as possible. Their point man, the shave-headed air-manipulator, Yoarishi, nodded to him respectfully, deferentially. They still didn't know who he was. He was lying to them again just by keeping silent with the truth, not correcting them when they called him Ingenium.
The redhead, Eijiro, limped through while leaning on the fawn-haired woman, Camie. She cradled the severed head of Kamui Woods under her other arm. Those two seemed close, closer than when Tenya last saw them, but Tenya paid their chemistry no mind. After them, Bakugou arrived, the man with the plan. He still held his hostage with a perilous grip on the man's nape, even while holding him up much as Tenya was holding Gang Orca. The difference was that one passenger was heavy and precious to them all, while the other was a lightweight piece of filth.
At last, the dark miasma arrived, well dressed and unruffled as he always seemed to be. He didn't waste time on words but closed the portal behind them before opening a new one. He held out a hand towards the blonde and their hostage.
"Our deal. Honor it, if you would be so kind," the dark villain spoke with sweet venom in his voice.
With an angry but meaningful glare, Katsuki told Tenya to stand back up and get Kugo towards the stairs. Yoarishi stepped forward to cover one of the blonde's flanks, while the redhead, Eijiro, stepped free of Camie's support to protect the other flank. The three of them stared down the portal-villain, neither side blinking nor conceding ground.
Everyone expected violence, betrayal, and bloodshed. Both sides were sure the other would strike first. Tenya moved as quickly as Orca's mass would allow, building momentum with each step as Camie held the door open. He tried not to, but Tenya locked eyes with the severed head again as he passed by. Looking up to break the macabre staring contest, he saw that Camie's eyes were closed, focusing hard as she exhaled. Still, Tenya grit his teeth and moved forward, bearing up Gang Orca's weight as only he could.
Once at the top of the stairs, Tenya cast one glance over his shoulder and was immediately confused by what he saw. Eijiro was no longer standing next to Bakugou. Instead, Bakugou and Yoarishi were surrounded by over a dozen copies of Eijiro, each grinning with enough sharp teeth to give a shark pause.
The mist-bodied villain didn't budge, didn't flinch. He stood next to the portal he made and watched them, locking eyes on Bakugou.
Tenya didn't know he was holding his breath until his lungs complained, demanding air.
Bakugou stepped forward, breaking ranks with his allies. Tenya knew he needed to get downstairs, but he couldn't take his eyes off of Bakugou. As much as Tenya hated this plan, the man followed it meticulously, taking his duty seriously.
He was acting like a hero. That thought sent a shame-fueled shiver down Tenya's spine.
The villain strode forward, gliding across the rooftop towards the blonde deputy and his hostage. The unconscious man, detested by one, valued by another, rested briefly in both their arms as the two men shifted his weight.
Bakugou stepped backward, holding his hand out to his side, palms open. From anyone else, that would be a peaceful gesture. Coming from Bakugou, it was a threat.
"Go," the blonde barked out hoarsely.
Taking his companion with him, the miasma-shaped villain stepped backward into the portal, closing it without parting words or fanfare. The images of Eijiro shimmered and flickered out of existence, and everyone around the blonde sighed in relief.
Tenya watched him, transfixed as Bakugou stared at where the portal used to be. Did he regret letting the villains go? Would they all live long enough to regret this, or did it matter anymore?
The blonde spat on the rooftop; a thick wad of contempt summoned from the back of his throat. It landed where the portal used to be. "Let's go," he said to the others.
Tenya descended first, relieved that their combat trial was over. Still, he dreaded the prospect of what came next. A future? What kind? One without any sun or stars? One without his brother, or rather, with his brother etched into his body?
Tenya shook those thoughts from his head, resolving that Gang Orca deserved more attention than Tenya was giving the man. "Excuse me!" he shouted into the corridor. "We need a doctor for Gang Orca!"
He was shocked by the sound of his voice, but he didn't let those thoughts sink in.
Several nurses emerged from a break room up ahead, followed by three physicians. All of them looked tired, worn from the ordeal of a city that needed them.
One of them, though, was the most beautiful woman in the world. Tenya would recognize those light blue eyes anywhere. Those stark-angled cheeks, hair so pale a shade of blue that it seemed white, and a smile so faint it barely existed; these features and many more that invaded Tenya's mind would haunt him forever.
"Naomi," Tenya spoke her name louder than he intended, drawn to her by an invisible force he barely understood. Run to her, his legs told him. Hold her, his arms cried.
Kimishimi Naomi, though, moved first. "Tensei," she called out him as she strode towards him.
His brother's name stabbed through his heart like a frozen knife. He stood there, frozen with fear, wondering what to do next.
"I thought, I mean I heard," she uttered before her eyes took on deadly focus.
"Bring him this way," she ordered him with a mixture of professionalism and intimacy. "I need an extra-large gurney, now!" she shouted, and one of the nurses ran. Once the nurses brought it closer, Tenya and Bakugou worked together to set the extra-large hero on it securely. After the blonde stepped in, he glanced at the armored counterfeit-hero, offering him a look that asked if he was alright.
Tenya shook his head. None of them had time to check on psychological or existential concerns just then.
Yoarishi took hold of one side and Bakugou the other, while Tenya provided central thrust from the rear that propelled the bed forward to wherever Dr. Kimishimi needed. Eijiro limped along behind them, waiving off two nurses as he leaned on Camie.
As they pushed Kugo on the wheeled bed, Tenya was distracted by the near-constant thrum-hum reverberating through the building. It got louder as they moved westward through the building. They passed a large window, and a glance was all Tenya could afford.
The backup generators were working overtime to keep the hospital alive and running. Three buses were crowding themselves full of patients down there, making Tenya wonder how many patients were left and if it was possible to move any of them.
"Oh, my," Naomi uttered when her eyes settled on Camie and the head under her arm. "Oh, Kamui, oh," she moaned as she spoke, sparing a brief moment to mourn, yet not enough to catch up with the rest of them emotionally. They'd known about his death for the better part of several hours, but the good doctors here caught on just now while busying themselves, saving other lives.
Stepping up, another physician spoke to Camie, offering to take the severed head out of her possession. Tenya didn't listen to the full exchange and instead focused on Naomi as she kept directing the flow of events around them.
"In here," Naomi gestured them all in after composing herself. "You there," she pointed at Eijiro as he brought up the rear with Camie. "Let one of my nurse practitioners examine your leg while I run triage on Gang Orca. There's no sense ignoring an injury when you're in a hospital, and medical professionals surround you." She gave him a wink, inspiring his face to flush.
Turning back into the room, she offered Tenya a smirk before restoring herself into the cold and ruthless doctor she needed to be. Despite her evident exhaustion, the half-smile reached her eyes. Tenya was proud of her, not just for her accomplishments, but for still having an attitude that could toy with men half her age, to deal with trauma after trauma, and still find a way to smile. Still, he felt secure that she'd always be loyal to…
Oh no, he realized. I'm thinking like Tensei. I'm treating her as though she's my wife, not my sister-in-law. That illusion would dispel itself, he thought grimly. Once he took off his helmet, surely she'd figure out that it was Tenya under the mask, not Tensei.
What if she didn't, or if no one could tell? What then?
By the time Tenya broke himself from his reverie, Naomi had thoroughly examined Gang Orca, using her Quirk and training to assess the damage. Tenya was surprised when the angry blonde, Bakugou, stepped forward to answer Naomi's questions.
Tenya didn't hear what she asked, but he caught the answer. "One of the demons struck him here along his jawline. She poisoned him, but I don't think it's one you'll have an antidote for."
Naomi tested his pulse, temperature, blood pressure, pupil responses, and even examined his mouth before using a syringe to extract a small blood sample from his arm. The fluid in the syringe looked wrong, black instead of red. She left all of them with some nurses while she ran across the hall to her lab, her heels click-clacking on the laminated floor.
The room grew quiet in her absence, interrupted only by the sounds from the next-door examination. That was where another nurse put Eijiro and Camie, Tenya realized.
"I'm telling you, nurse. I can get around better without a cast than with one. See? I can Harden my skin to be tougher than my bones," he heard the tail end of the explanation through the open hallway door as Eijiro explained himself.
The silence in Naomi's absence roared in Tenya's ears. He feared what tomorrow would bring, what the new normal would be. Even if the world survived and moved on, he couldn't. Worse, Naomi had a ray of hope in her heart since he showed up, and it was his duty to snuff that light out and tell her:
Tensei was dead, and there was no way to get him back.
Naomi burst into the room. "It's worse than I thought," she declared. "His blood's thoroughly contaminated, and the longer it stays that way, the worse the long-term damage will be. Even if I performed a complete dialysis of his system, he wouldn't live long enough to get to the other side of the process. We need to perform a full-exchange transfusion immediately. Unfortunately, he's type-O negative, and we're out of artificial hemoglobin to hold him over. Is anyone here type-O negative?"
Camie poked her head in from around the corner. "I am, doctor."
Naomi nodded. "Good, you'll be the first up to give blood for him. We'll need at least five other donors if he has any chance of survival. Nurse Mitsuabe, please go through our paper records and see who among the hospital staff has O-negative. If you don't find anyone, go through patient charts. We can't wait for donors from outside the hospital, not during an evacuation."
"Yes, doctor," was all the woman said before running into the hallway.
"Meanwhile, Nurse Moroha, we'll need an ice tub for the patient. We have to slow down his metabolism and his heart rate to a crawl. After that, we'll send his blood to the lab for exo-dialysis. Get on it. You there, young lady, please sit over here. I'll hook you up. Don't worry, I may be a physician, but I'm often told I have nurses' hands," Naomi continued ordering the universe around her, compelling obedience through willpower and an uncontestable body of knowledge.
"Whoa, hold on now," Eijiro spoke up as he limped into the doorframe to stand next to Camie. "We just rescued you from a dangerous attack. Can you really give blood right now?"
"Eijiro, I'm fine. I'm probably in better health than I've ever been," she overrode his objections. "You should know. You helped me get better," she said before placing a soft kiss on his lips. The kiss continued as they lingered, prolonging their contact well past normal propriety, but they did not allow the kiss to grow in intensity.
Naomi set about her work, getting the needles and tubes ready while Eijiro and Camie got closer to each other, communicating orally but without words, Tenya observed. The two of them, uncaring who saw them, shared such a beautiful moment that Tenya didn't know if he wanted to disturb them.
Bakugou raised an eyebrow but said nothing, while Yoarishi blushed and looked the other way.
"You saved my life, Eijiro," Camie whispered to him as her forehead pressed against his. "Let me use what you gave me to save someone else's. I'll be fine, so don't worry."
"I," Eijiro started to say something. Tenya wondered what held him back, what made him hesitate. To all other eyes in the room, the connection these two felt for each other was obvious. Something, though, prevented them from enunciating how they felt for each other.
Eijiro held onto Camie's hand as she parted from him, releasing her fingers at the last possible moment.
Camie crossed the room to sit where Naomi directed the young woman. Though dirty and disheveled from their days of exhausting battles, Camie appeared calm, sedate, like this was finally her chance to just rest. She didn't flinch when Naomi cleaned her arm with alcohol or when she found the right vein and planted the needle inside. In no time at all, the bag at the other end of the tube filled with rich purple-red blood.
With Camie sorted, Naomi moved on to hook up Gang Orca to drain the poison from him. Thick black blood sludged forward into the tube, filling the pint-sized bag with painstakingly slow progress.
"Holy shit," Bakugou whispered. Tenya had to agree. Whatever this poison was, it thoroughly corrupted the hero's blood until it looked more like oil than anything living and organic.
Camie smiled as she used her free hand to gesture Eijiro closer to her. The two of them held hands as blood drained from her other arm. Neither of them said anything as they pressed their foreheads together. They smiled shyly when their noses touched. To Tenya, they looked serene, a stark contrast to the anxiety on Bakugou's and Yoarishi's faces or the determination in Naomi's eyes.
The bright flash of light outside was the only warning any of them had.
Tenya turned towards the window, his adrenaline urging him to kick into turbo drive, propelling him forward as he planted himself between the window and Naomi. In his peripheral vision, he saw Eijiro wrap himself around Camie as his body Hardened up like a protective wall around her. Tenya didn't have that luxury or the time, but he could use his armor and position to shield Naomi behind him and her patient.
The sound and shockwave came almost instantly after the bright flash. The building rumbled and creaked before the glass shattered inward, raining lacerating shards towards everyone in the room.
Tenya braced himself, kicking his engines on just to remain standing against the onslaught, hoping to block the worst of the conclusive force and debris with his armor while protecting everyone behind him.
Harsh wind and heat enveloped him, but to his relief, the worst pressure came from behind him. Tenya spared a glance over his shoulder to witness Bakugou unleash one explosion after another, redirecting the incoming glass away from Naomi and Gang Orca. Yoarishi helped as well, pushing outward with enough gale-force to scatter shards away from their vulnerable flesh.
Some glass made it through, but their teamwork prevented the damage from being overly severe.
Tenya turned to see in Naomi was alright. "Naomi," he called to her. "Are you hurt?"
He sighed when instead of checking herself, Naomi examined her patient first. "Minor lacerations, but no damage near the eyes."
"Naomi," Tenya said, keeping his exasperation in check. "What about you?"
She plucked a shard of glass from her hair only to discover it had several drops of blood on it. "Minor cuts, but no facial injuries. Nothing in my eyes. Sorry, old habits," Naomi shrugged.
Tenya glanced over to see that Eijiro and Camie had a similar interaction. However, with no professionalism on either part to restrain them, Eijiro checked Camie's body for injuries despite her protests.
"Doctor!" Eijiro called out, spotting the problem. There was, unfortunately, damage that needed immediate attention. Camie's body wasn't harmed, at least not severely. However, the pint-bag attached to her was cut open by a stray shard of glass. Her lifeblood dribbled uselessly onto the floor.
Naomi rushed over and replaced the bag on the line. The other pint, thankfully only partially filled, was already useless.
Bakugou and Yoarishi moved towards the window, gazing in horror at the spectacles outside. Tenya moved to stand alongside them, stifling a gasp.
The mountain was gone. Takao, the little sibling to the taller, more famous mountains deeper in Japan, was no longer there. Not dented, not damaged, just gone. A great pyre of smoke rose from an unseen fire, occluded by interceding buildings on the horizon. Ash and pebble-hail rained down around them, sounding off as they pelted the ground, vehicles, and of course, people.
"Fuck," Bakugou uttered. Tenya followed his gaze to look at the damaged generators below and the fallen buses filled with screaming passengers. Knocked on their sides, two buses lay like slain beasts, their human cargo pressed and writhing inside, calling out for salvation. Large red splatter-marks emerging from underneath told them that the vehicles crushed several people as they toppled over. Hopefully, their deaths were quick.
As if to highlight the severity of the situation, the lights in the room flickered before dying off. "Shit," Tenya heard Naomi curse. He innately knew that Naomi focused her frustration on the wellbeing of her patients. Without power, none of the machines needed for life-saving procedures would work. This disrupted not only the dialysis for Gang Orca but likely the immediate needs of dozens of other patients.
Without a word, Bakugou charged forward, leaping out the window. Tenya cried out but cut himself short when the man let loose a series of small explosions to slow down his descent.
Yoarishi leaped next, not to be outdone by the other deputy. "Wait for me!" he cried, summoning a gale of wind that buffeted his fall.
"Fuck you, I ain't waiting for shit!" cried the blonde over the sound of his detonations.
Eijiro limped forward, edging closer to the window. Tenya, though held up his hand, mustering all the authority his brother would have used in this situation. "No. Your heart is in the right place, but your leg is broken. If you want to help, stay up here and get your leg looked after."
Eijiro looked at him the way a wounded puppy would look, begging for some meaning or understanding for pain that it couldn't comprehend.
"Wait," Naomi interrupted.
She spared only a few moments to gather her thoughts. "You can still walk, right? Get a crutch from the nurse station down the hall if you need it. After that, make your way to the secondary building to our east, the Kanbe building. On the second floor, you'll find a patient in recovery. He's a young man, about your age. He produces electricity with his Quirk. See if you can work with him to restore power to the building. Even one hour of power could save dozens of lives, least of all Gang Orca's."
Eijiro's face transitioned from sorrow to joy as she spoke to him, providing him with meaning in this chaos. "Yes, ma'am, doctor, ma'am!" Eijiro marched out with a smile, relying on his good leg while dragging a Hardened leg along for the ride.
The redhead turned to make eye contact with Camie one last time before departing into the halls.
"Don't worry about me, you big muscle-head. You go be a hero, one without a distraction like protecting me, you hear?" she called after him.
He gave her a lopsided grin. "You got it," he said on his way out.
"Is he the best suited for this job?" Tenya asked her.
Naomi shrugged. "You'd get there faster, but I know you want to help everyone below. I'd rather you do that. After all, a lot of them are my patients, too. Check on him after you rescue those people?"
Naomi placed a hand against his breastplate. The intimacy of the gesture sent his pulse racing. Before he could stop himself, he rested his hand atop hers.
Tenya struggled to find the right words. Should he tell her the truth? Of course, he should. When? When was it fine to rip her heart out and send her into mourning?
"Naomi," he started, thinking that perhaps it was best to rip this off like a bandage. "I," he swallowed, though there was nothing but nerves urging the impulse.
"I love you," she said. Her eyes burned through Tenya's armor and into his heart with how much love he saw in them. There was a mountain of unspoken words hiding behind them. I was afraid I lost you, her ice-blue eyes said to him. I was so lost, so alone, and so scared. I endured, performing surgery after surgery, all just to bear through the pain of losing you.
Tenya hated himself. "I love you too," he said.
Naomi raised herself on her toes to place a kiss on his helmet. "Go," she said. "They need you down there. Just promise that you'll come back to me."
Tenya squinted his eyes shut, burying the pain inside himself where she couldn't see it. "I promise," he said.
Before he could stop himself, Tenya moved his gauntlet-covered fingers to caress her cheek, wishing he could feel how smooth her skin was. "I should go," he whispered.
"Yes, you should," she said back with a smile.
Tenya let his sister-in-law go even as he reminded himself what his relationship with her was, what it was supposed to be. He turned and dove through the window, out into the chaotic world below. His quad-engine in his legs and arms served to steer him, to guide his descent.
The madness below would be a good distraction from the turmoil in his head.
When he told her that he loved her, he meant it. That realization made Tenya hate himself more than ever before.
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Naomi watched her husband leave through the window, just as dashing and daring as he'd ever been. She didn't understand it, how it all came to be, but her heart soared with relief. She wasn't a widow. Alyssa wasn't an orphan again.
Naomi set herself back to work. An empty tub arrived, much too small for her patient, but it would have to do. Ice followed. Despite the lack of power, the hospital staff continued their work. Pints of poisoned blood were set aside, ready for the moment power came back on. In the meantime, flashlights and electric lamps served as they pored over records to see if they could find more donors.
There was too much to do.
As the nurses and orderlies moved Gang Orca into the ice-tub, Naomi removed the needle from Camie's arm. "Thank you for donating," she said.
Naomi looked into Camie's brown eyes for the first time since the others left. Until that moment, she never asked why the young woman remained silent after everyone else left. Naomi felt waves of sorrow and pity was over her as she locked eyes with Camie as if these were the saddest eyes in the world, but all the sadness wasn't Camie's, but hers.
Naomi was instinctively afraid, but she had to ask. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Several tears loosened their hold on Cami's lower lashes, spilling down her face. Her lips trembled. "Doctor, there's something you should know."
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Voices erupted from their radio interspersed with screams of static while Midnight focused on driving. However loud the radio was, it barely registered compared to the noise from outside. Hard chunks of heated earth rained down like hail from the sky, pelting their car hard. The windshield accumulated long winding cracks with several hard impacts but held firm against the onslaught for now.
Momo briefly wished that Mei never hacked the military radio signals, but then again, she knew that wish was selfish. Turning away and closing her ears wouldn't stop the death and suffering around them. Still, she hated hearing the pilots as they gloated to each other about the massive explosion.
Somehow, Mei gave their gigantic touch screen a satellite view of what was happening. The aircraft above them flew in a tight formation as they flew west past the destruction they just caused. Mt. Takao was obscured by a massive smokescreen that wafted north by northwest due to incoming wind from the sea. Midnight stuck to that route, preferring to drive under the assumption that a smokescreen would hide them.
I wonder if they're proud of themselves, Momo thought bitterly as the pilots whooped and hollered at each other. She ground her teeth against each other when she reminded herself that they almost killed Ochako. Momo wondered if Izuku was still alive.
"Izu," Ochako pleaded, caught between consciousness and the delirium of whatever dream she found herself trapped in.
Momo tried to relax her jaw while securing Ochako's outstretched hand in her grasp. While focusing on her fingers, Momo manufactured a makeshift glove. She hated that this was the reward for Ochako's bravery and sacrifice, to be strapped down as their vehicle tore through the hills and away from the wreckage that used to be Mt. Takao.
"Hush, now," Mina cooed as she wiped a wet washcloth over Ochako's forehead, wiping away soot and cleaning a long scrape that etched down her temple.
Both deputies, for all the rescues they'd accomplished alongside Midnight, could not contain their emotions when they found Ochako in Endeavor's arms. He glowed like a beacon, drawing their vehicle closer despite the chaos raining down relentlessly about them.
"Take her and get her out of here. Her survival is a top priority," was the only greeting the number-two hero offered them after Midnight brought the car to a halt.
Midnight and Mina rushed out to cradle Ochako in their arms, but Endeavor didn't release the young woman just yet. Instead, he walked quickly to the passenger side with Midnight trailing behind him. Momo busied herself, producing bandages and other supplies after eyeing the damage Ochako endured.
"She's the only witness to survive prolonged contact with multiple enemy commanders and their hostage. We'll need her testimony of what happened here. Our survival depends on it," he spoke stiffly, grimly, as he placed Ochako into the vehicle.
Ochako clutched outward towards him, her eyes sealed tightly shut, but her hands grabbed at empty air. She looked angry, heartbroken, but determined.
"We'll take care of her. Uraraka deserves it," Mina supplied.
"Uraraka," Endeavor repeated, enunciating the name deliberately, methodically. He fastened her seatbelt for her.
"She needs medical attention. I can take her," Midnight thought aloud but was cut off.
"Don't prioritize the nearest hospitals. Get Uraraka beyond the checkpoints and out of the province. Take her as far north as Koga if you have to, just get her away from here," he spoke with grave urgency.
"Alright," Midnight said stiffly. "As far as possible, agreed."
He nodded to Midnight and took off into the sky after receiving a return of the gesture. He didn't say where he was going. None of them asked. The two women rushed back in the vehicle, coated in ashes, wincing as they sat down.
Momo was the only one inside the car when Endeavor put Ochako down. The look on his face was stoic, but his eyes betrayed shame, guilt, or perhaps doubt. Momo assumed that he was feeling helpless, just like the rest of them.
Now, bouncing in the backseat behind Ochako's head, Momo wasn't sure anymore. She didn't remark on it at the time, but Endeavor's face had several peculiar scratch marks on it. Those could be from anything, but they could also be grooves dug in by fingernails.
There was blood under Ochako's fingernails. Momo stared once that puzzle piece fit so neatly in her head, but the whole picture still wasn't clear.
"Red Two, this is Yellow One. Do you have visual confirmation, over?" their radio hissed back to life as they charged away from the raining destruction above them. The English-speaking voice spoke with a thick drawl hidden underneath years of professional training.
Momo held her breath. They ignored the screen once they found Ochako, and that was a mistake. The formation turned some time ago, veering back around to reexamine, reassess.
They're confirming their kill, Momo thought bitterly.
Before thinking about it, she grabbed hold of Mina's hand next to hers. Midnight's grip on the steering wheel tightened audibly as her skin chafed at the leather.
"Yellow One, this is Red Two. I have visual. Target is intact. I repeat: target is intact. This is one tough walnut, boys," came the reply through their radio.
Momo exhaled, smiling for the first time since the explosion. "Oh, thank god," she breathed out while Mina let out a celebratory scream that peeled away into laughter.
"He's alive," Mina spoke excitedly. "Oh, god, yes! Uraraka! Did you hear that? Midoriya is alive!"
Ochako shed tears in her sleep, but somehow, Momo got the impression they were tears of relief.
"Alright, folks," the voice of Yellow One spoke up. "The MOAB wasn't enough, so it looks like the mission isn't over, not yet at least. For the second volley, Green Seven, you have clearance to arm Little John. I repeat: Green Seven has clearance to arm Little John. All fighters restore formation around Green Seven. It's time for a second run. This time, crack that nut," droned the commander in the skies. The longer he spoke, the more the women despaired.
"They're talking about Midoriya like he's just," Mina didn't finish. It was too disgusting to contemplate. "He's not the enemy!"
"What's a 'Little John' supposed to be?" Momo asked in horror.
"Something tells me we already know," Midnight seethed.
Mina stifled a fearful sob. They instinctively understood that the Americans had a tactical nuke. Suddenly their history lessons didn't seem so distant and irrelevant anymore.
"Yup," Mei's voice broke in, sounding clear as a bell despite the static that surrounded the pilots' voices. "I just looked it up. Little John is a tactical nuke with a small warhead, too small to measure in the same megaton range as their missiles. Hmm," she made several noises as she clicked through page after page of information. "Oh shit, it's comparable to what they dropped on Hiroshima!"
Mina punched the car door next to her. "Shit! Shit!" she uttered as tears flowed from her eyes.
"I can't believe these fuckers. Take over the world? Without air superiority or anti-air cover? They're bent," interjected another voice through the din of static.
Momo watched in horror as the formation edged closer and closer to the wreckage of Mt. Takao. "Please, no," she prayed.
Midnight said nothing about the impending bombing. "Check Uraraka's bandages, you two. Then strap her securely. We have to be careful about how much blood she could lose if we," she stopped herself.
If we flip, they all thought. If the bomb tosses us like a child throwing a toy car.
"Yes, ma'am," Momo said, leaning forward to care of Ochako while Mina leaned back, wallowing in despair.
"Orange Three, use your damn call sign, over," Yellow One sounded annoyed but not angry.
"This is Orange Three replying: yes, sir," the tone was sarcastic.
"Yellow One, this is Green Seven. Little John is armed. I repeat: Little John is armed. We will deploy on your mark, over," this voice rang through somberly. There wasn't anything casual about it. Whoever this man was, he took everything they were doing exceptionally seriously.
"Izu," Ochako moaned, writhing in her sleep. "No, please, no," she whined. "You're too important."
"It's alright, Uraraka," Momo leaned over her, taking in the bruises and scratches that decorated Ochako's face. The bandage they secured earlier around her torso was holding firm. Good. She sponged away more ashes while Mina used multiple seatbelts to secure Ochako in place. "We need to check her for other injuries," she mused aloud. "I know distance is a concern, but," Momo trailed off when Ochako grabbed hold of her hand, gripping it tightly.
Midnight kicked the vehicle into a higher gear. "Hang on, ladies. I don't think it's going to be safe to stop for a while."
"Oh, shit," Mina muttered. "If this blast is bigger than the last one, will there be a hill big enough to bear it out? We can only get lucky like that once, can't we?"
Momo bit the inside of her cheek. They were absurdly lucky before when Midnight stopped behind a large foothill near the base of the mountain, somehow avoiding the worse of the blast wave despite their proximity. If they dropped a city-killer next, nothing would be safe.
"We're not sticking around to find out," Midnight assured her passengers.
"You be careful, all of you," Mei uttered through their radio. "I'm watching from the skies. You have maybe a full minute before they're above Takao. I'd alter course, though, just to be safe. If you're in the direction the wind is blowing that ash, you'll be in the path of any radiation the next bomb unleashes no matter how much distance you put in."
"Thanks, Hatsume," Midnight sounded off before turning due north. The car bumped and groaned with the sudden course change.
Above Takao, Momo observed. Not Mt. Takao, just Takao. Would it be renamed Takao Crater? Takao Lake? When the dust settled, would there be people left to name it?
Momo turned to look behind them at the pillar of smoke and fire. Now and then, plumes of ash parted to reveal the Chrysalis' twisted metal shape floating above the crater, surrounded by glowing green light. She prayed silently that Midoriya Izuku would be alright, that he'd come out of there alive and well, then turned her attention back to the other women in the car and the world in front of them.
"That's weird, there's something," Mei's voice cut off abruptly.
"Hatsume?" Midnight asked. "Hatsume, are you there?"
The video display changed to a pilot's face, masked with a large tube projecting out from his face, providing life-giving air while he flew his craft. Momo wondered if Mei made a mistake, somehow patching them into an in-cockpit camera instead of the satellite view.
"Who? What?" Mina asked, confused.
"Yellow One, this is Blue Five. We have a bogey inbound, coming at my six," interjected a voice they hadn't heard before. Without moving lips, it was hard to tell that the man on the screen was the one talking.
"Blue Five, shake that bogey off and get it in your sights. These aren't friendly skies. Light 'em up," the commanding officer ordered sternly.
"Roger that. Excuse me, gents," the smirk in the man's voice was audible. He pulled on his controls, banking into a hard roll.
The screen darkened, but it wasn't signal interference. Momo and Mina watched as he flinched backward before they heard him scream.
Then the darkness tore through the glass around him, invading inward until they saw nothing but black static.
"Blue Five! Blue Five! What's happening back there?" the commander's adrenaline-fueled words filled Momo's heart with dread.
"We just watched a man die, didn't we?" Mina asked aloud.
"We did," Midnight confirmed.
All Momo could do was breathe, trying to focus on filling her lungs before exhaling as slowly as possible.
The on-screen view transitioned to an odd-angled vista of the coastline, panning slowly. The camera jerked suddenly, pulled roughly by an unseen force. The device turned to behold a scene of abject destruction. Smoke rose from the earth as an eerie green glow permeated the air.
Then the camera focused on a red mask floating freely without a face behind it. A pillar of rotating stones ground together underneath it, glowing like hot embers where they connected.
"Humans," interrupted a nearly mechanical voice, like the needle on an old record-player making distorted noise. Unlike the pilots, this one spoke in Japanese.
"Oh shit," Momo started hyperventilating. "That's the comm I gave to Uraraka!"
"We lost John!" another pilot panicked, breaking the call-sign language of their conversation.
"All Fighters! Break formation! Engage! Engage! Green Seven, continue to the target! No matter what, bring the package home! You got me?" their commander shouted over the comms.
Mina leaned in to cling to Momo's side, and Momo wrapped an arm around the other woman instinctively.
"Disgusting, weak, undeservedly arrogant humans. You are all in need of correction," the emotionless voice droned on, speaking their language yet sounding more alien for it.
The camera shut off, altering the view to the face of another pilot. The women in the car had no way of knowing which one it was.
"Ah!" the pilot screamed as static edged its way into the signal. He jerked his head left and right, panic fueling his movements. "It's eating the wings! It's eating them! It's going into my engines! It's!"
Then the screen went dark. No more sound came in.
The explosion overhead was small due to the distance, but Momo saw it, flinching away even as she turned her eyes skyward. High above them, the pilots were fighting and dying, and Momo had no idea what was up there killing them.
She knew who was controlling it, though. She just didn't want to think the demon's name, let alone say it out loud.
The screen came back to life, showing another pilot leaning in, focusing hard on the displays in front of him. So far, none of them knew they had a secret audience.
"I can't get a lock! I can't target it!" his panic filled the airwaves.
Momo felt a chill running up and down her spine. She felt guilty for praying, as though her small wish lead to the painful deaths happening again and again on their screen. "No, please," she begged no one in particular.
"So lost, so alone, and as always, so fragile," the demonic voice grew more intense, edging closer to sadistic enjoyment with each passing word.
The pilot on camera found himself engulfed in darkness as pelting noises interjected into their ears, followed by scratching, scraping, then the inevitable sound of glass breaking inward. Momo watched, transfixed, as the man's arms were ripped from his shoulders by thousands of tiny black blades. The swirling noises of the swarm drowned out his screams.
Then the screen went dark, and another explosion popped off like a distant firework in the sky.
With each passing death, as Momo watched, the guiding hand of the demon grew ever crueler, getting disturbingly creative as he dismembered the pilots one by one.
"Who is that? Who is on our comm channel? Does anyone have sights on it?" another pilot called out a desperate plea as his camera turned on, letting Momo and Mina know that he was the next target.
Momo couldn't stop her teeth from chattering.
"Allow me to introduce myself," the demon hissed. It was almost as if the monster was in the cockpit next to the man's ear.
The tiny black blades tapped onto his cockpit windshield, vibrating in tune to the demon's voice. "I am the Inkwell of Blood. I serve the End of All Wisdom, and through that service, the Endless Desert."
"What do you want?" the man cried as he enunciated the Japanese words as best he could. Momo's heart broke for him. Mina cried tears almost as readily as he did, sobbing in his cockpit.
"Jason," another voice broke through the comms. "What is it? What do you see back there?"
"I want you, all of you," the demon spoke soothingly, smoothly, before puncturing through the glass and eviscerating the pilot while Mina and Momo watched, transfixed.
The demon sent the obsidian blades swarming in. They entered the pilot's body through the base of his neck, burrowing under his skin and clothes. He screamed, but his outcry stopped in his throat as more shards turned inward, charging through his lunges and then up, out his mouth. He died quickly, though painfully, yet the swarm continued to decimate his corpse.
The screen went black before another pop sounded off somewhere above them, farther south than the others were.
Mina screamed uncontrollably, gripping onto her lower teeth, stretching her jaw open as she pulled on herself. There were no words in her wailing, no sense of order in her eyes.
"Mina, Mina!" Momo called to her, reaching over to hold onto the other woman tightly.
"Don't look," Momo urged her. "Just hold onto me and shut your eyes!"
Mina nodded even as she wailed out a moaning sob, stifling it into Momo's neck.
"Thank you, Momo," Midnight said as she steered them onto a road. There was a harsh impact as they broke over a curb, followed by smooth, comforting asphalt. Despite this step in the right direction, no one in the car felt like celebrating.
Ochako squirmed on her makeshift bed. Blood trickled from somewhere on the back of her head. Momo knew she needed to attend to that but decided to calm Mina down first.
"Oh, shit," another voice rocked through the airwaves as another camera told Momo who the demon's next victim would be. "I have eyes on it. It's a fucking swarm. There's thousands, millions, oh fuck," the voice cut itself off into screaming as darkness enveloped the pilot. The glass above him exploded inward as a column of black blades thrust their way in, impaling him in his stomach. He didn't scream anymore. He gurgled as blood choked him. The screen went dark as another explosion dotted the sky, a blotch of red against a shimmering green backdrop.
"Your lonely existence ends now with my embrace," the demon called out as if urging them on with fantastic news, but it only promised death.
"He's killing all of them, one by one," Mina started hyperventilating into Momo's neck. "They're in fighter jets, and he's plucking them from the sky, just toying with them, oh god!"
The camera shifted to another face. This time, the man had his mask off despite how hard he was breathing. He gazed around, darting his eyes all over as he took in carnage and chaos where his team used to be. The sky above him cast his face in a sickly green.
Momo bit her lip. The man was handsome, with a strong chin. She decided he was braver than she was. Although his movements were rapid, there wasn't a sense of panic about him.
"Green Seven, continue to the target! That's an order! Do you," his outcry was interrupted by loud pelting sounds. A hailstorm of impacts scraped the metal of his craft. Although they didn't see anything yet, they heard it. The pelting got louder, more insistent, and was accompanied by the scream of static as the camera struggled to capture these events.
The cockpit didn't darken. It offered Momo and Mina a well-lit view just so they could watch him die, staring at every excruciating detail.
"Oh god," he uttered his last words as he looked down. "They're in the cockpit!"
Shards of polished obsidian swarmed up his legs as the floor gave way underneath him. He rattled in his seat, vomiting blood as the razor-edged invaders tore into him from below. Momo recoiled backward when the blades spun through his neck, severing his head from his body.
Mina almost threw up, retching as they listened to the awful sounds of razors slicing through meat. Despite turning away from the screen, Mina forced herself to listen as sticky wet sounds splattered through their speakers with crystal clarity.
Momo never turned her eyes away, never shut them. Her tears were the only barrier between her and the man's face as he died. She was glad that his screaming stopped quickly, that his death was swift. The killing swarm wanted complete overkill as they tore his body into obscene shreds.
"No!" Midnight yelled when Mina reached forward towards the touchscreen, her fingers edging perilously towards the power button. "We might disagree with their mission, but we owe it to them. We might be the only witnesses they'll ever have."
The radio roared with a loud explosion, deafening them to the pop far overhead. Then their screen screamed with static. Midnight jerked the wheel, steering them too sharply as she reacted to the terrible knowledge, the gruesome death of another human being. That was four by Momo's count, or was it five? How many pilots were on this mission?
How many were left?
The screen shifted, blurring until two men in a larger cockpit were visible, one behind the other. The man up front focused on flying while the man in the rear spoke up. "This is Green Seven. Is anyone out there? This is Green Seven. Shit! Yellow One, if you don't respond, I'm assuming command of the mission and authorizing drop," the voice called out, devoid of hope. "Dave, please tell me you're still alive!"
Silence. They were the last ones up there. That knowledge felt like a fist of ice around Momo's heart.
The pilot shook his head somberly while his copilot cried. He didn't admonish his friend. His eyes told Momo that he knew the end was coming no matter what they did next.
"Didn't you hear them scream?" the demonic voice called out across the airwaves. "I love the sounds you make while I tear your faces off, the last expressions you wear, etched for all time in the leather of my collection. Come, mortals, and join your brothers."
"No! Fuck! Shit! No!" the pilot finally spoke up only to utter his last words. They echoed through the radio into the car along with wet, agonizing noises. Metal scraped and burned while the black blades sliced human meat to ribbons, all in horrifying surround-sound.
Mina shut her eyes and curled inward.
Momo watched, wide-eyed, as everything played out in gruesome detail.
As she sat transfixed, the tiny blades moved, eroding the glass and metal that surrounded the two men. Before they could react, think of a plan, do anything, the shards invaded the cockpit.
They screamed when the blades wormed under their skin, fileting through their flesh. Their hands were torn from their arms, leaving useless stumps that squirted blood. Then the black-shimmering edges attacked their faces. The tiny knife-like shards extracted one screaming mask of human skin with nauseating efficiency, then another, leaving both men alive and mutilated, their gaunt faces bloody and naked to what came next.
Momo would never forget them, their teeth and eyes exposed. They couldn't close their lips or eyelids because they had none.
"Such sweet music," the demon's voice sounded ecstatic, reveling in the song of their final screams.
Like a torrent of hungry piranha, the blades dove through their chests. Both men coughed up blood and choked before falling limp in their chairs, dead.
The camera shifted oddly, and suddenly Momo realized that the cockpit was falling, hurtling towards the ground. The craft appeared briefly in her field of vision somewhere behind the two corpses before it detonated amid a storm of stone. The explosion was too blindingly bright for the car's screen to transmit, too loud for their speakers to depict.
As if in mockery, the cockpit's parachute deployed, slowing the last two pilots' descent. It seemed tragically ironic, given how it wouldn't do them any good.
Midnight's teeth ground against each other as she wore an ugly grimace. Momo didn't need any more prompting to understand what was upsetting the hero. The parachute wasn't an accident of irony but intentional cruelty. The demon spared their corpses so that he could collect some trophies. The thought revolted Momo to her core.
Holding Mina close to her breast and nuzzling her face into a soft bed of pink hair, Momo sobbed before she even knew she was crying.
"Momo, look: Ochako," Mina whispers to Momo, nudging her.
Momo lifted her face away from Mina's nest of pink hair and saw what Mina was trying to point out. Somehow, she prevented her eyes from taking in the screen up front where the macabre spectacle lingered.
The bandage around Ochako's side was turning a deep shade of red. "Scoot over, Mina, please," she urged quietly. None of them noticed the transition from surnames to first names. It happened smoothly and seamlessly as their teamwork solidified.
The two of them unbuckled, feeling safer on smooth roads and moving away from the disaster. The medical car-bed Ochako was on had a stretch function that allowed Momo to slide Ochako back towards them before re-locking the mechanism.
Mina knelt on the floor to give Momo more room to work.
"How is she?" Midnight asked. Her face was wet. Momo wanted to reach forward and squeeze her shoulder, perhaps thank her for driving them, but for now, she knew that Midnight wanted all of their focus on Ochako. It was for both Ochako's sake and their sanity.
Before doing anything else, Momo read the ambient thermometer built into the medical bed. Ochako's temperature was dropping. Momo looked at the woman's face and was appalled by how pale she was.
Momo unraveled the bandages and winced at the damage underneath. "Her temperature is dropping, and I think she has broken ribs. The jostling we did off-road earlier didn't help. Also, I think she has a concussion. I'm not sure how long she's been bleeding, though, so," Momo bit her lip, wondering what to do next.
"Here, my mother's a nurse, so I've seen her do this before," Mina said as she knelt on the car floor. She reached underneath the medical bed and got out a small packet of artificial hemoglobin. She hooked in the connector tube and handed the bag to Momo.
Momo had never seen one of these before except in textbooks despite many attempts to replicate them only to discover that she couldn't make artificial hemoglobin. She'd tried. The molecule was too large, too complicated, for her Quirk. Still, Mina's implied instructions were clear. Momo raised a metal pole from a slot near Ochako's head and hooked the bag in place.
Mina wiped Ochako's arm. "Now for the hard part," she said with a half-hearted smile. Momo noticed that while on the floor, Mina kept her eyes and ears oriented to the rear of the vehicle, refusing to acknowledge the corpse-filled cockpit that dominated their nav-screen.
Despite her earlier revulsion, Mina held the needle steady as she searched Ochako's arm for a usable vein. Momo winced when Mina's first attempt didn't hit the mark, then again at her second, but her third one, thankfully, did. Mina unclasped a binder on the line, releasing oxygen-rich fluid into Ochako.
Once Mina finished her part in replenishing Ochako's blood, she checked below the bed for other fluids they could add to the feed as well as other supplies. A thermal blanket was down there, and Mina grabbed it up, ripping open the sanitizing plastic-wrap. Mina tucked Ochako's legs in until her lower body looked like a pair of shiny tinfoil dumplings.
Meanwhile, Momo attended to the injury on Ochako's head. She bound it tightly with a self-pressing seal-bandage. It would be a bitch to extract from Ochako's hair later, but in the meantime, it left Momo's hands-free and left Ochako's face uncovered.
Ochako wept, her face contorting into utter sorrow. "I'm sorry, Izuku. I'm so sorry."
"Hush, Ochako," Momo rested her hand against Ochako's cheek. Her face was alarmingly cold. "Everything's going to be fine."
"I'm sorry," Ochako mumbled. "I let you down."
Momo stared at Ochako hard, focusing on her face while Mina redressed the bandages around her midsection. Something about this felt off. Momo had a sinking feeling that Ochako hadn't gotten away from the demons with Endeavor's help as they'd assumed.
She filed this all away, vowing to get answers for Ochako, even it meant getting answers from Ochako.
Momo shifted her eyes up when the screen flickered, changing from a view of dead pilots to the hellscape that used to be Mt. Takao. The Chrysalis floated above the wrecked earth, distorted as though behind a magnifying lens as it surrounded itself in green light. Above it, an emerald sun glowed through the billowing smoke, refusing to allow anything as paltry as a destroyed mountain to diminish its brilliant light.
For just a moment, one fraction of a second, Momo swore she saw movement inside the gargantuan shell, a flicker of light and life. Was Izuku still trying to communicate with them? It was so rapid, though, that it was over before she could register it fully.
"Humans of the Island Nation Where the Lesser Sun Rises," the masked demon spoke smoothly, formally, despite his strange-sounding voice. He used an archaic form of Japanese, one overloaded with honorific speech. "I am reaching out to you, all of you, to let you know that the truce brokered by the mother-regent, Inko of House Midoriya, is now over."
"Oh, fuck," Mina breathed out.
"Is this reaching everyone?" Midnight asked, incredulous.
Momo considered the ramifications of that claim. Did the demons somehow hack into the same satellite network Mei was just on? Were they communicating with everyone in Japan? It would explain how Mei's signal was interrupted.
"I successfully thwarted your attempt on the life of Prince Izuku of House Ligier. I assure you that I took great pleasure in ending the lives of your assassins," the demon's masked face cracked just then. The crack edged outward from its mouth. It was a smile on a false face that couldn't move to make one, a disturbing mockery of human expression.
Momo narrowed her eyes. Why was he smiling so hard? What motivated that?
"Per the terms of our agreement, we ceased all overt hostilities," the demon continued. "By the power entrusted to me, I now deem you all Oathbreakers. We will hunt you down for your transgression. Do not think that you can escape us as you flee from one city to the next. We will uncover you where you hide and chase you where you flee."
Momo leaned in, taking in every word. The message felt like psychological warfare. If humans were nothing but prey, though, why engage them this way? Why communicate like this at all? It made no sense.
The demon's smile reminded her of one her father wore once, though this was more twisted and far crueler. Back then, he was teaching her a lesson while demolishing her at a game of chess. He meant to demoralize her, a lesson she didn't appreciate until later.
"Before we slaughter you, though, we must attend to one formality of our arrangement," he gestured outward. "You kindly surrendered your champion to us as a hostage to keep the peace between us. In acknowledgment, then, we will execute your champion, All Might."
"No!" Midnight yelled, breaking her silence as the car swerved with her emotional outburst. She quickly regained control.
"Not All Might, no, oh god, no!" Mina curled down on the floor of the car and covered her face and head with her hands. Her body shook with racking sobs.
Momo's nails dug into her palms as her fists tightened. "Bastards," she seethed through hot tears.
The camera panned to the face of another commander in the demonic army. Momo immediately recognized the human-appearance of Mara. "That bitch," Momo almost spat.
"It will be my unique pleasure," the woman spoke eloquently in Japanese, far more adept at the language than her formal counterpart. "Indeed, it will be my honor," she smiled, "to behead your champion, the 'hero' known as All Might."
The way she sarcastically lilted on the word 'hero' made Momo's blood boil.
"Mina," Midnight spoke then, defeat and anger warring in her tone. "Look up. We owe it to All Might to look up, to keep our heads high. It's what he'd want from us now."
Mina took a long moment to sort herself, to sit up. Momo reached down to help Mina up into her seat. The pink-skinned woman wiped angry tears from her eyes before sitting straight up. "For All Might," Mina spoke through clamped teeth even as more tears flowed from her eyes.
Momo took hold of Mina's hand and didn't let go. She smiled for Mina's sake.
"For All Might," Momo reaffirmed Mina's resolve.
Midnight nodded before wiping her nose with the back of her hand. "For All Might," Midnight repeated after her deputies.
{}
Unnoticed by anyone else, the Oathbreaker flew on jets of self-fueled fire as he rocketed through the viridescent skies south of Japan. The alien-looking waters reflected the eerie light above, surrounded in a cocoon of emerald light.
Even at this distance, the comm system in his ears worked. He heard the demon clearly, just as he heard the pilots scream and die. He knew what was about to happen to All Might.
When the monster called them all Oathbreakers, he knew that burden was his alone. Innocents, though, would pay the price for his error.
Endeavor knew it was all his fault.
"I'm sorry. Everyone, I'm sorry," the fire-fueled hero seethed the words through his teeth, though no one could hear him.
It was too late now, Endeavor told himself as he clutched the small packages he stole. Surely some secret hidden inside these stones would bring humanity the salvation they desperately needed. Perhaps they contained a preview of the fate that awaited them. Maybe they held secret intel, instructions, how to strike the enemy, and where. Better yet, they could be a means to escape the reach of these monsters.
Even if it meant salvation for only a few, Endeavor knew that he'd make the same choices again and without hesitation. He just hoped that his children could be in that elect number. If he could save them from the cruelty of these monsters, then Endeavor would do anything, kill anyone, tell any lie, just to make sure that they survived this madness.
His eye twitched at the memory of the young woman, Uraraka, how she wailed and fought him when he pried the stones from her grip. His heart ached for the fate he consigned to his rival and one-time friend, All Might.
He removed the comm-system from his ear, crushing it into molten slag before accelerating. If his transgressions were to have any meaning, then he'd need absolute secrecy for the next steps of his plan. Endeavor conjured the images of his children in his heart, back when they were young and smiling. All of this was for them, he told himself, to protect their futures.
The weight of his guilt didn't alter his course, didn't change his mind. If the only way to save humanity, any of it, was to become as monstrous as the invading demons, then Endeavor resolved to be a devil among men.
{}
Inko cowered into All Might's embrace, taking almost no comfort as the shockwaves from the blast flew through them, barely registering to their senses as car alarms blared, windows blew apart, and trees cracked. She stifled her screams by biting down onto the chain that lead to his neck, bearing down until her jaw ached.
Through it all, Toshinori held her firmly, his hand resting firmly on the back of her head. Inko flinched when his chin lifted from above her eyes, exposing her eyelids to the ever-present green twilight.
"Just hold onto me," he assured her. His voice was deep, calming, and just loud enough that only Inko could make out the words. She drew strength from that kernel of privacy he offered her.
Inko gripped onto him so tightly that she could have memorized the feel of his bones under her fingers. Her Quirk acted on instinct alongside her body to hang onto him as if he were the anchor in her storm-filled world.
At last, the noise and reverberations passed over and through them. Other than the ephemerally distorted sounds of car alarms, there was no distinguishable sound nearby but Toshinori's heartbeat in her ears.
Inko dared to open her eyes and lift her head from his chest. She wished that she hadn't, as her decision only afforded her a view of that horrible shell floating in the air, unblemished by the attack. The mountain, though, was reduced to a broad hill topped by a crater. The bombing didn't even spare the parking lot at the base.
Inko couldn't help but weep, thinking that not even Izuku's etched signature on the side of that vending machine remained. Would she ever see her son again? Would she even get scraps to help her remember him?
She sobbed inconsolably, and before she knew it, Toshinori wiped away the worst of her tears with his thumb.
Inko looked up into his eyes, blue with flecks of green from the radiant sky above. She almost asked him if he could tell her how Izuku was doing, but Inko knew that All Might had no answers beyond comforting gestures.
She turned in his arms to look at the warrior-woman, Sondok. "Is my son safe?" Inko choked on her emotions before continuing. "Is Izuku alive? Is he safe?"
Toshinori wrapped his arm around her protectively, as if to shield her from Sondok's answer.
The demon inclined her head, gazing unflinchingly into Inko's heart with those haunting red eyes. She did not smile, did not express anything good or bad. "The Prince endures," was all that Sondok supplied.
For Inko, those words were enough. The dam broke inside her as tears of relief flooded out to overcome the tears brought by fear and loss.
Toshinori guided her head into the crook of his neck. Her forehead rested against the manacle that bound him to his chains. "What about the girl that was with him?"
Inko didn't see Sondok shrug, but she felt All Might's muscles lock together stiffly. Inko winced as hot tears soaked into his clothes.
"That poor girl," Inko's teeth chattered. My son's first girlfriend. She could have been his first girlfriend.
She imagined the scene in her head, how happy and nervous he'd seem to bring a girl home to meet his mother. She imagined all the things he'd ask her to say or not say so that she wouldn't embarrass her son in front of his first love. The thought that he'd have to mourn her instead of introducing her, crying as he visited her family burial plot, made her sick to her stomach.
My son met a girl, and she died before I even learned her name!
Her heart tore in half with empathy for the poor child's family. For the past few days, the all-consuming thought that she'd lose her only son forever tormented Inko. Only now, she confronted the idea that other families around her were already feeling the loss that she feared.
"Why," Inko spoke between sobs as she leaned into All Might's chest. As bony as he was, he was a pillar for her, and she borrowed more strength from him than she knew he had left. "Why did she have to die?"
This time, Inko turned to stare at the demon, glaring at her through curtains of emotion-laden water that poured from her eyes.
Sondok crossed her arms. "We gave Prince Izuku, or rather, his Emissary, a choice."
"A choice," Inko spat the words out. It wasn't a question. It was a demand for further explanation.
Sondok leveled an even gaze into the mother's eyes. "The Emissary had to pick between his lover and his species. His choice was an interesting one."
"Interesting in what way?" All Might asked from just behind Inko. She leaned back against him as if bracing for the answer.
Sondok frowned. "The Emissary chose death."
Those words stabbed deep into Inko like a hot knife thrust into her heart. She rushed forward before she knew what propelled her, acting before thinking about it. "Death? Is he dead? You said my son was alive! You said the Prince endures!"
Inko swung her fist to connect with Sondok's face.
Sondok didn't block or flinch, merely accepting the blow as if it were a leaf blowing on the wind. Once Inko's outburst made contact, though, Sondok pushed her back into All Might's arms. "The only part of the Prince worth anything remains intact. With the Emissary gone, he is less corrupted by his human ancestry, all without any blood on our hands."
Sondok smiled, revealing rows of iron-spiked teeth.
"You bitch," Inko cried bitter tears as she whispered the insult out. Her voice rose into a throat-shredding shout. "I'm his human ancestry!"
"Inko," All Might rested his hand firmly on her shoulder. She turned her face to look into the sorrow-filled pits of his eyes. "He tried to be a hero. He tried to save her without betraying anyone. Don't let them distract you from that."
Inko clamped her eyes shut as if to close the dam and seal up her wellspring of tears. Izuku wanted to do the right thing, she told herself. He's trying to be human, being heroic no matter what else they turn him into.
Izuku endures, not the Prince, Izuku. Izuku made the right choice, Inko reminded herself, not some nameless Emissary. She'd mourn him, she decided, and be proud of him while reminding the son she had left about him.
Inko was about to give Sondok another piece of her mind when popping sounds erupted from somewhere up above them. They came in relatively quick succession, each no more than a minute apart. "What is that?" she breathed the question out, fearing the answer.
"Mahbagodeth is performing his duty," Sondok said impassively. "As feeble as they are, he takes the task of defending the Prince seriously." The way she said it, it almost sounded like she envied him.
"They aren't a threat, and they never were," Toshinori stepped in to observe. "I have to wonder what gave them the idea that they could accomplish anything."
Sondok smirked. "Hubris," was her only reply.
The silence after the last explosion was even more deafening than all the noise that came before it. Inko stood there, helpless as tears streamed down her face. All Might stepped in next to her, offering his hand for her to hold. He stared coldly at Sondok, but to Inko, he was warm.
"I suppose your kind had nothing to do with this, that you just happened to offer Young Midoriya those choices out of mercy and circumstance," All Might spat out sarcastically.
"Mankind likes to listen when we whisper in their ears, a trait my peers use to our advantage. Your kind often blames us when you make terrible choices, but that's what they are: choices. Oaths cannot be broken by puppets, only by those with free will." Venom rose in Sondok's words like a tide of bile. Her disgust was obvious: don't blame us for your stupidity, vermin.
Their debate was cut short as dark oil shimmered up from the ground near them, rising to form humanoid shapes. They remained hazy, obscured, and warped as though beyond the surface of a disturbed pond, rippling even as Inko tried to make out what they were.
One of the shapes stepped forward, crossing the veil between the physical and immaterial world to stand with them. It was a black, wet shape that only vaguely seemed human. It bubbled and oozed as it slumped forward into their alien reality.
"What is," Inko never finished, receding behind All Might as the thing writhed and screamed.
The creature's chest expanded obscenely before it burst like a balloon, and from it's black-puddle-corpse rose a woman in classical Heian attire. Her hair was long, smooth, and black as midnight. Her many-layered green-on-gold kimono looked heavy as it dragged through the oil-slicked mud yet remained immaculate. She opened a beautiful golden fan to hide her mouth, but before she did, Inko saw a beautiful face, one made pale with thick white makeup and just a touch of lipstick and blush, enough to make her mouth seem small and her cheeks innocently shy.
Despite her locally inspired appearance, the woman turned and addressed Sondok in their demonic language. Watching such a human face speak so casually in that monstrous tongue sent chills through Inko's body, waves of dreadful anticipation.
Their words grew heated as the two demonic women fell into a disagreement, their tone catty and cruel with each other. The newcomer enjoyed teasing, it seemed, but Sondok was a warrior that knew how to bark as well as bite. Inko watched their exchange, wondering what could have them behave so divided. Was this normal for them?
That's when Inko noticed the earpiece dangling from a knot on the woman's fan. What could that mean?
"Excuse me for interrupting," All Might spoke up next to her, daring to intrude as these two lionesses argued, risking himself as he exposed his neck to their agitated and eager fangs. He let go of Inko's hand long enough to bow to the newcomer. "I'm All Might, and it's a pleasure to meet you."
"So polite," the woman mused in eloquently fluent Japanese, completely lacking the accent of Sondok or the alien staccato of Mahbagodeth. "I am Mara, the Shadow Lover. In just a few minutes, I will be your executioner. A pleasure, I'm sure," she smiled prettily at him as though she were flirting.
Executioner? Executioner? "Wait, but," Inko stuttered, the one pillar that she relied on crumbling inside her soul. "He did nothing wrong!"
"Hostages often don't," Mara said with a pout. "But a bargain is a bargain, and the humans broke the accord. We must live up to our threats, or else no one across all the world would take us seriously! We can't have that, can we, Lady Sondok?"
Sondok bit back a harsh reply in their native tongue, one so guttural and hate-filled that Inko wondered if any insult in Japanese could ever match.
"I anticipated this," All Might said calmly, shocking Inko even more. "Will you do it quickly, painlessly, if I cooperate?"
"I'd prefer to rip out your heart and burn it to ash, but the Inkwell has another plan for you," Mara's smile continued to contrast against her words.
"No," it felt like Inko could not breathe. "No! Please, no!" She mustered every ounce of strength she had while standing in front of him and facing down this new threat. "I made a deal! I sold my soul to keep people alive, to save the heroes!"
Mara tilted her head to the side while smiling pitiably. "Indeed, and your efforts were useful to us, a means to manipulate your son. Now that the humans broke the accord and your son's Emissary is no longer alive, we don't care about your deal."
They used me to trick him, Inko thought as icy despair coated her heart. I helped kill him. "Please," she begged, bowing low. "Please, my son looks up to this man! It would devastate him if All Might died!"
"We know that," Mara said, striding forward past Inko as if to dismiss the conversation. "Your son needs new idols, idols we will gladly provide him. When he looks up, it will be the Unquestionable that he beholds. When he turns left and right, we will be his peers. This human," she looked up and down Toshinori's skeletal frame with disdain, his clothes hanging loose and ragged about him as the chains rattled on him.
"This is not something the Prince will ever aspire to, nor should he," the woman sneered. "Come," she turned away from the two humans to look over to Sondok. "Let's stop wasting time."
To All Might's credit, he stood stoically and watched as Sondok unsheathed her sword. Inko, though, hyperventilated as her eyes glossed over every centimeter of the long blade.
Mara walked casually up to Sondok and waited until the warrior offered the sword handle first, though not without a barking sneer, some scathing remark Inko couldn't understand.
"Do you have to humiliate her like that?" All Might asked.
Three pairs of eyes turned to stare at him. He knew he was about to die, and he spared a thought for his captor and her feeling. The idea was incredulous. To Inko, though, it matched her image of who he was, and her heart burst for him. The demon was wrong: All Might's superhuman strength wasn't what Izuku should aspire to, but his character, his heart.
Sondok's expression was one of disbelief, but Mara stared at All Might with something akin to hunger. It made Inko's stomach turn. "Did you pick up a few words of our language, human?" the demoness asked.
Toshinori merely turned his head to look at Sondok, refusing to meet Mara's gaze. "It doesn't take much to understand that you're insulting her by using her weapon to finish me off. It's not enough that you want to kill me, but you also have to spurn each other, competing over the kill."
"A shame," Mara said, walking up to him. She closed her fan before using it to prod his face, forcing eye contact. "I would have enjoyed toying with you. Still, don't worry too much about Sondok. A short moment of humiliation is the least she deserves for losing to a crowd of vermin, to quote Mahbagodeth and how he put it."
Inko balled her fist as she fought to keep her face neutral. She had to think. Think!
"Oh well," the demonic courtier said with a smile. "Follow me, then, and we'll deal with that insightful head of yours!"
As the two of them passed her, Sondok patted All Might on the back, pushing him towards Mara as the other demon wandered back to the puddle she used to cross the border between worlds. Inko turned to look at the warrior woman, wondering what meaning, if any, the gesture carried. Sondok stared forward, watching All Might walk unflinchingly to his doom. She formed a fist with one hand and closed her other hand around her fist before pressing the combined gesture to the center of her chest.
Was that what counted as respect among demons?
That didn't matter, though, not to Inko. "Wait," she said. "Wait!"
Inko strode forward, fast-walking to catch up to them. "Take me with you. I need," she stopped herself. "All Might needs someone there with him, to stand by him." During his execution, Inko almost said the words but could not muster them from within her gut.
"No, Miss Midoriya," All Might turned to her to object.
"Fine," Mara said, sounding bored. She pushed All Might down through the muck she emerged from earlier, his chains rattling as he fell backward, absorbed by the oil slick as it swallowed him in one world to expel him back into the other. "Now, your turn," the human-looking woman smiled cruelly.
Before she knew what was happening, Inko was surrounded by grasping thick tar as it pulled her through. At long last, her lungs filled with life-giving air, and the world around her was no longer ambient but solid.
Think, she told herself. You made it this far, Inko. Think!
{}
Toshinori helped Inko stand once they both hit solid ground, the asphalt lending support for them in ways they'd taken for granted before.
"Why," he started to ask before his executioner emerged into the world.
The robed demon was flanked on either side by her lesser, darker subordinates. The creatures looked vaguely human in their shape but were undoubtedly anything but people. Their oily skin undulated and pulsed with each passing moment, and their faceless heads turned, warping and writhing as though they were chewing on themselves.
Mara emerged unsullied by the mire she forced the two of them through, her body coalescing from formless darkness that rose to stand against the light. As an afterthought, she handed the earpiece dangling from her fan to one of the lesser demons and uttered a short command before tucking the fan into her sleeve. The sword rested in her other hand, dangling low as if to hide how threatening it was.
The monster accepted the earpiece and transformed while Toshinori watched, knots of revulsion forming in his gut when he recognized the face.
The creature turned into a mockery of Young Midoriya. Boyish, frail, and with large eyes filled with wonder and naïve enthusiasm, the monster's appearance pulled on his heart. Guilt and sympathy mixed uncomfortably in his chest.
Inko gasped next to him, and Toshinori winced in pain on her behalf. If this innocent face tore into him so much, he could only imagine what it was doing to her.
The imitation put on the earpiece and stepped back, presumably to get a good view for the camera. It had enough cruelty to smile at Toshinori and Inko, a smile filled with hope and wonder. It reminded Toshinori of the enthusiasm Midoriya had the other day when he met the young man.
That enthusiasm lasted up until he crushed the boy's spirit. Twice. Toshinori allowed his head to sink low, the manacle digging into the fleshy underside of his jaw. Was this guilt the reason he was ready to die?
Ink wept uncontrollably, shaking as she turned away from the image of her son.
Toshinori couldn't stop himself and placed his hand against her cheek. She pressed her face into his palm.
"I should be the one comforting you," she whispered.
"It's alright. I'd say you're doing a pretty good job," he smiled for her.
Off where Inko couldn't see, Mara made a show of testing her new blade by dropping a slip of paper over it. The sheet split itself against the sword's unmoving edge. Mara smiled for Toshinori's malefaction.
There wasn't much time left. The demon would become impatient. The only reason their enemies were allowing the moment to stretch out so much was to demoralize their audience, to build up their hopes. He knew what came after that, but for now, he focused on Inko.
"When you see your son again," he whispered to her. "Tell him I'm sorry that I wasn't a better role model for him, and for turning my back on him."
Her face showed him her internal struggle. She wanted to argue with him, to tell him that he was a fine man and that he did a better job than she did for her child. "I'll tell him, I promise."
Before he could react, Mara grabbed his shoulder from behind, pushing him down to his knees. Mara made a gesture, something he caught peripherally over his shoulder, and Inko backed away meekly.
Without Midoriya Inko in front of him, Toshinori had no one to stare at but the smiling mockery of Midoriya Izuku. They knelt him in just the right location so that the world could watch his head fly from his body. He wanted to look away, but he didn't want to appear cowardly, not when so many relied on him, needing him for bravery and inspiration. Besides, though there were other shadow demons gathered around, none had a face he could make eye contact with.
He stiffened when he felt the demon's fingers comb through the hair on the back of his head. Descending further, Mara brushed her fingers across the manacle around his neck, and it released him, obeying a wordless command from her. The clamping irons on his arm and legs remained, but for a glorious moment, Toshinori reveled in the freedom to move his head as he pleased, to feel the cold twilight air on his neck. His breathing became easier without the weight of it against his collarbone.
His moment of freedom was short-lived. Mara set his hair to the side as she bent his head low, elongating his neck. "Just like that," she said with the satisfaction of an artist. "Hold still, or not. It'll all end either way soon."
There was a long moment of silence. Toshinori breathed deeply, savoring the feeling in his lung. He couldn't see Mara while she stood behind him, but he felt her there just as keenly as if she had pressed her sword against his back.
Inko rushed forward, wrapping her arms around him tightly as if to bind her body around him, to shield him from any harm. "No," she cried out. "Please," she sobbed over him, tears wetting his face.
"Don't do this, Inko. Your son needs you now more than ever," he whispered to her.
Perhaps it was the rush, the stress, or the adrenaline, but Inko turned her head and kissed him on his cheek. Mara pried the woman off him and threw her roughly, not giving him time to think through any of this, to sort out his feelings or what hers might be.
The demon grabbed him then, forcing him to stand and turn, jolting him with a hard grip on his hair. The chains that bound him rattled like he was a broken toy. Pain coursed through his scalp, a warning that it would give way, unable to carry his weight.
Toshinori glared into the demon's all-too-human eyes and saw nothing there but impatience and cruelty. This was it, he told himself, the moment of truth. The demons would take him to the edge of the abyss, his life entirely at their mercy.
They wanted him to beg, to cry out. They goaded him, expecting him to sell himself, be their slave, and sell One for All into their service.
Any moment now, they'd make him that final offer. He grit his teeth, ready to disappoint them, to refuse them, to spit in their face with one last act of defiance.
Mara's smile was sweet with cruelty. Her face elongated with each passing moment, thinning as he stared into death and darkness.
There would be no offer, he realized as cold dread gripped his heart. They didn't want his Quirk. They didn't need him or care about him. He was a useless pawn in a game they played and lost, and now it was time to dispose of the offending pieces.
"Speak your last words, mortal," she batted her eyes at him as if flirting.
All Might glanced over to the face of Izuku and the camera on the innocent-faced creature's ear. "Keep fighting," he coughed. "Never give up hope. Smile for anyone you're strong enough to protect. Smile for anyone protecting you. Cling to each other, survive, and carry your heroes in your heart."
"That was beautiful," the demon said as she reared up her sword arm, raising it above her head like a coiling snake ready to strike.
His last thought was of Izuku. Please, he prayed, please be safe, and please hold onto the ember of hope and determination that you used to rescue your friend. Please, he prayed so hard that his body coated itself in sweat, please be the line of defense humanity needs against these monsters.
Please, when you emerge from that metal prison, please be a hero.
All Might shut his eyes, ready for what was about to happen.
Inko screamed. It was the only warning he had that Mara's hand moved.
He smiled one last time as death lunged for his neck.
{}
The sky roared as violet lightning arced upward from the Chrysalis. Like the hammering of gods against distant glaciers, great cracking noises echoed throughout the city and beyond. Then, after the hammering ceased, emerald fire plumed outward as the shell fragmented into thousands of shrapnel-blades. The emerald sun above collapsed, plummeting the world below into darkness.
Time did not slow down.
It stopped completely, utterly defeated.
The world held its breath as the demon moved. Faster than wind, than sound, than thought, it ran not like a man but like fire. Asphalt cracked and burned where its feet touched, imploding like each footfall was an asteroid impact from high above.
Air burned around the monster as it hurtled forward faster than the world wanted to allow. Smoke and fire danced in front of it, heralding the demon-beast as it advanced. It zigzagged through hills and streets, leaving a great serpent of green fire-fueled destruction as it ran its course.
Prayers guided its senses. Lamentations of loss mingled with earnest pleas for help rang through the creature's ears, filled its nose as though supplicants burned incense under its nostrils.
Debris greeted it as it rushed forward. Yet that was nothing compared to the ushered chaos of its wake. As it moved too rapidly for the world to comprehend, it kicked up strewn vehicles into a storm behind him.
The demonic beast ground to a halt when it reached its destination. At long last, it inhaled, filling its bellow-lungs with its first taste of cold air, made hot by endless heat supplied by the beast's forge-fires, encased inside the monster's heart.
Time resumed, allowing a second shockwave to buffet through the city.
{}
Smoke billowed and plumed outward as sparks flew. Mara's strike was true, but her sword impacted against a surface of hard immovable brass. The demon woman jumped quickly, backing away, a look of shock and disbelief on her face.
Her jaw quivered, but only for the briefest moment. She composed herself. Her human features were restored under the emerald light of the Prince's Anima.
Smoke and light fought for dominance in the stillness that followed Mara's retreat.
As Inko watched, shadows moved under the smoke, coiling and writhing to cover walls of bronze-coated muscles. Her eyes bore witness to her confusion. She was unable to process what she saw there, uncertain of who this was. Doubt and hope warred inside her.
Toshinori knelt where he'd fallen, blood seeping from his scalp where Mara tore out hair and root in her haste. He looked up to see emerald light part the smoke around them, refusing to allow the new arrival to hide or conceal himself for long.
A long banner of green silken hair waved down the man's back. Bronze skin and dark clothing covered a tall, muscular frame. However, there was something, a pull deep in his gut, that told him that what he wanted to believe might be right in front of him.
"Midoriya," All Might coughed out amid the haze. "Is that you?"
"Izuku?" his mother called out, weak, feeble, unable to breathe amid the smoke, much less stand.
Despite his internal wants and needs, Prince Izuku ignored his mother and his one-time idol, locking his emerald-fire eyes on the demon in front of him. He didn't dignify the shadow-copy of his former-self with a glance.
The Prince stepped forward out of the smoke, revealing a long red-hot line of heated brass across his chest, one that the shadow-clothes recoiled away from as the super-heated metal burned the shadows away.
Izuku needed Mara to understand that her strike meant nothing to him. Perhaps she'd learn that she meant nothing to him.
"Kneel," he commanded her in the Malfean tongue, baring his fangs.
Mara grit her teeth, but after a tense moment, she knelt.
"All hail Prince Izuku," she seethed out, refusing to take her eyes off him for even a moment.
{}
A Note from the Author
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At last, we arrive at the climax of the first arc. It's been quite a journey, but I'm glad we took it together.
I'd like to thank everyone who encouraged me and pressed me forward. With 903 followers on FFN and 490 Kudos, your reception overwhelms me. I'm also grateful each time my wife reads and edits my chapters.
We've come so far, but the journey is far from over.
Before I continue with my fic rotation, I'm planning on outlining two book ideas. These will compete with each other and my other outlines in lethal combat soon. One of these contenders will become my first original manuscript, and hopefully, my first novel.
After that, we'll continue on with "The Reflection in the Viridescent Mirror," then "Izuku's Time Traveling Babysitting Service," followed by "Midoriya Izuku vs. the Women of Sigma Epsilon Chi (S.E.X.)" before returning to this fic again. As usual, I reserve the right to inject a chapter here and there of my Babysitting fic when I get stuck or in a mood that requires cheering up.
Feel free to come on my Discord Server and talk. We're a small but chill group. discord. gg /25BTet3
As usual, I reply to all comments. I reply directly on AO3 and in batch on FFN. Please be patient on FFN, as I like to wait so that I can reply to as many as possible at once since I do my review-replies in the reviews myself, and can only post one review per chapter.
Thank you all again, and I look forward to seeing you at the next chapter!